Brutal Police in South Africa
South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world. Latest incidents show that also the police force is becoming more and more violent.
In April 2012 police opened fire on protesting miners and killed 34 of them. Eight police officers are currently charged with killing a man who did not want to be arrested after parking on the wrong side of the road. A few years ago there was a series of attacks against foreigners, whom many South Africans blame for taking away jobs.
Such crimes are no longer front page news in South African papers. Rapes, murders and other crimes can be found somewhere inside the local sections of the print media.
On the other side, wealthier whites, whose homes are surrounded by security systems and tall fences claim that they feel more secure than ever before. However many citizens are in favor of a reform that will do away with the police brutality of the Apartheid era. During that time the white government thought it was necessary to protect the white minority from blacks. Today, with more and more black policemen on the force there is need of quick change.
Related Topics
Words
- Apartheid = time when whites and blacks were separated in everyday life
- arrest = to take someone to a police station because they have done something wrong
- blame = to say that someone else is responsible for something
- charge with = to be blamed for a crime
- citizen = a person who lives in a country and has rights there
- claim = to say that something is true
- currently = at the moment
- do away with = get rid of; not have any more
- fence = structure made of wood or metal that is around a house or piece of land
- foreigner = a person from another country
- however = but
- in favor of = to be for something
- incident = event, something that happened
- local section = part of a newspaper that deals with national and regional events
- miner = a person who digs minerals and raw materials out of the earth
- minority = small group of people
- necessary = needed, important
- open fire = to start shooting
- police force = the official police organization of a city or country
- print media = newspapers and magazines
- protect = guard, defend
- rape = to have sex with someone who does not want it
- secure = safe
- security system = objects that warn you when someone enters a house
- series = many
- surrounded = around something
- violent = brutal
- wealthy = rich
- there is need of = something must be done